is it worth it to get a 1970 maverick even though all i hear about is 1971 and newer? is it hard to get parts for 1970 mavs?
Nothing wrong with the 1970 Mavericks. The main problem beign is that non of the 1970 model year came with a V8 so if you are buying a 70 Maverick then it is either going to be a 6 cyl or one that has already been converted to a V8. The other thing is all of the 1970 Maverick came with the 4 lug setup, from 71 and up you could get 5 lug. Other than that there really isn't any difference. The Blue one in my sig line was a 1970, that someone (not me) converted to a V8 and 5 lug setup.
My car is a '70 (69.5), and it took the V8, 5spd, 5 lug conversion and AC with no issues. If the price is right, buy the car!
it's under 1000 bucks but if you consider paint in the $2000 range. i just don't want to buy and get stuck later cause it costs to much to switch to a v8.
I thought big 6cyl cars came with 5 lug setup. I have 2 70s right now and I think you can't go wrong with a 70.
buying an old car really is an investment. unless you plan on buying something already restored to the point where you want it your probably going to have to sink some green into it. by the time your done you'll probably be in it for multiple time what you invested. just gathering the parts for a v8 swap could easily reach another $1000 and thats considering you go with a used running block and do the work yourself. breal swap could also be another few hundred just getting all the stuff required. but in the end, to me atleast, all that stuff is alot easier, cheaper and quicker to do then rust removal. if the body doesnt have big rust holes in the floors and rear quarters its easily worth $1000
The 250 6 cyl did come with a 5 lug rear in the later years but not in 70, 71 or 72 for sure, I "think" the 250 I6 with the 5 lug setup started in 73 or 74, but I am not positive. Another thing to consider is a lot of the Fox Body Mustangs had V8's and 4 lugs, as long as you aren't going to go over around 300 HP you could feasibly stay with 4 lug and just upgrade the tranny, the front springs, motor mounts and those things. My issue with the 4 lug setup is the limited availability of mag wheels. While I do like the dog dish caps and glamour rings I really would like to have a nice wide set of chrome rims on the back and a reasonable width on the front. Most of the 4 lug rims out there that will fit on the Maverick don't have much width to them. Anyway if you take your time, shop around and look for deals on here, ebay and the junk yards you can make the V8/5 lug swap for around $2000- $2500 if you start with a used 302 and rebuild it mildly and do the work yourself. Or you could even get lucky and find a rotted out donor car with a V8 and 5 lug, buy it for a couple hundred, strip the parts off it and sell anything you do not want and junk the rest. There are ways to go from 6 to 8 cyl. and 4 to 5 lug on a budget.
the stock brake set up has nothing to do with the stock engine. 69.5-72 was 4 lug drums, '73 had 5 lug drums and 74-77 had 5 lug drums in the back but disk fronts. the bigest advantage to going with a later setup wasnt the 5 lugs, its because you'll have disk breaks. sure fox body stangs did just fine with 4 lug rims but they didnt have 4 wheel drums though.
Wasn't really talking about the brakes. I was referring to the # of lugs, and that did have to do with the engine. in 1970 all Mavericks were 6 cyl, thus whether you got the 170, 200, or the 250 you got 4 lugs with drum brakes. In 1971 and 1972 the 6 cyl came with 4 lugs Drum brakes and the V8 was 5 lugs Drum Brakes, in 1973 and up were applicable, if you got the 200 I6 you still got 4 lugs and if you got the 250 or 302 engine you got 5 lugs with drum brakes and in at some point after 1973 (from what you are saying it was in 1974) you got disk brakes up front if you got the 5 lug setup, and also believe it was for the last 2 years, 76 and 77 you could upgrade to POWER disc up front and Drum on back. My 1970 was a V8 and was 5 lug but still had drum brakes on all 4 corners and while it was harder to push the pedal because they were not power brakes the drum brakes stopped the power and added wieght of the V8 just fine.
